Park Avenue’s Billionaires: How They Stay That Way

Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream is the riveting new documentary by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room), which presents his perspective on the increasingly glaring disparity between rich and poor Americans. Gibney contends that America’s wealthiest citizens have rigged the game in their favor, creating an unprecedented degree of financial inequality in the United States.

Gibney proposes that this is nowhere more evident than on New York City’s Park Avenue. 740 Park Avenue in Manhattan is currently home to the highest concentration of billionaires in America. However, just across the river, less than five miles away, Park Avenue runs through the South Bronx, an area that is home to the poorest congressional district in the United States.

In Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream, Gibney states that while income disparity has always existed in America, over the last 40 years it has accelerated sharply. As of 2010, the 400 richest Americans controlled more wealth than the bottom 50 percent of the population, or 150 million people. In the film, Gibney explains why he believes upward mobility is increasingly out of reach for both members of the middle class and the poor.

President Obama Trounces Romney, Wins Second Term

Barack Obama, the candidate of hope who became the first black U.S. president, won re-election today by overcoming four years of economic discontent. Obama defeated Republican Mitt Romney, according to television network projections that showed the president winning the electoral votes needed for re-election. Late Thursday, the Romney campaign had no choice but to concede Florida to President.Obama. Putting Florida in Obama’s column brought the president’s final Electoral College vote total to 332 versus Romney’s 206.

Beginning more than a year ago, Obama championed middle-class opportunity against an opposition party more determined to protect preferences for the wealthy. Throughout a volatile Republican nominating contest, Obama’s political team never wavered from the view that its eventual opponent would be Romney, a former private equity executive, whom they portrayed as an out-of-touch embodiment of moneyed privilege and heartless capitalism.

Samuel L. Jackson: “Wake The F**k Up!” And Vote Obama (NSFW)

Academy Award Nominee Samuel L. Jackson, with his booming voice and imposing presence, was the perfect choice to record last year’s audiobook version of the bestselling children’s book for adults, Go the F**k to Sleep!.

In a new, unconventional ad for President Barack Obama that hit the internet on Thursday, Jackson improvises on that title in his political video, Wake the F**k Up!. Have you been thinking about just sitting out this election, or maybe even considering voting for Romney just for the hell of it? You may want to think twice about that!

Jackson may appear out of nowhere to give you a profanity-laced nursery rhyme about the dangers of voting Republican this November. In this video, Jackson magically shows up in the homes of seniors, young people and other disaffected voters to exhort them with his very salty language to start paying attention. Disparaging Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in rhyming verses, Jackson says:

“Sorry, my friends, but there’s no time to snore. An out-of-touch millionaire has just declared war. On schools, the environment, unions, fair pay. We’re all on our own if Romney has his way. And he’s against safety nets, if you fall, tough luck. So I strongly suggest that you wake the f**k up.”

Samuel L. Jackson: “Wake The F**k Up!” And Vote Obama (NSFW)

A Charming Little Bedtime Story: Go the F**k to Sleep!!

Go the F**K To Sleep is a wonderful little book by Adam Mansbach, probably the best children’s story since the classic Goodnight Moon. The story only gets better here, when it’s read by Hollywood favorite Samuel L. Jackson, who says in the introduction that in his own experience reading stories to put kids to sleep just doesn’t work. Jackson said he used to say “Go the f**k to sleep!” to his own daughter when she was growing up. He says, at some point, she would look at me when I would come in her room, and she’d say, “Go the f**k to sleep, Daddy?” And I’d say, “Yeah, go the f**k to sleep!“

The Callous Mitt Romney: The Full Secret Video of Romney’s Private Fundraiser

On Monday afternoon, Mother Jones Magazine posted a short leaked video online that captured Mitt Romney at an exclusive fundraising event that offered a rare glimpse of his personal views. Speaking at a private fundraising reception earlier this year with millionaire donors in Boca Raton, Florida, Romney described almost half of Americans as “people who pay no income tax” and are “dependent upon government.”

Those voters, he said, would probably support President Obama because they believe they are “victims” who are “entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it.” With its unvarnished language, the short video clip seems to undermine what Romney’s aides have tried to argue is an enduring attribute that would appeal to independent voters: a sense that Mr. Romney is, at base, an empathetic and caring man.

Now, Mother Jones has posted the full 49-minute secret video of Romney speaking at that May 17th fundraiser, captured raw and uncut. In addition to his denigrating comments about poor people, Romney’s remarks about a critical area of foreign policy set off another media firestorm, generating headlines around the world. Responding to a question about the “Palestinian problem,” Romney said peace in the Middle East is not possible and a Palestinian state is not feasible, telling his wealthy donors that Palestinians have “no interest whatsoever in establishing peace and that the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish.”

Romney’s remarks, degrading nearly half of the electorate, sent the Romney campaign, which was already rocked by infighting, into panic mode. The new video confirms the impression of a callous Mitt Romney, who has little idea of how Americans actually live. Further, the additional comments in this full-length secret video solidify previous impressions that Romney can be quite a bully to those who are not a part of his small exclusive group.

A leaked video posted online Monday afternoon by Mother Jones Magazine of Mitt Romney at an exclusive fundraising event offers a rare glimpse of his personal views. During a private reception earlier this year with millionaire donors in Boca Raton, Florida, Romney described almost half of Americans as “people who pay no income tax” and are “dependent upon government.”

Those voters, he said, would probably support President Obama because they believe they are “victims” who are “entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it.” With its unvarnished language, the video seems to undermine what Romney’s aides have argued is an enduring attribute that would appeal to independent voters: a sense that Mr. Romney is, at base, an empathetic and caring man.

Democrats quickly condemned the remarks as insensitive, and President Obama’s campaign accused Mr. Romney of having “disdainfully written off half the nation.”